Seagull ‘whacks’ into woman leaving her with bloody head wound

A woman was taken to the hospital after being left bloodied by a seagull which swooped down and hit her in the back of her head. 

Lesley Wright, 70, felt an ‘almighty whack’ before finding she had a bleeding scalp which needed medical attention.  

She had been walking to a neighbour’s house in Moray, north-east Scotland, when the gull struck, leaving her dazed and in pain. 

Lesley was left with a scar and a bald patch, and now has a dim view of the protected species, which she likened to ‘flying rats’. 

‘I felt an almighty whack on the back of my head,’ she said.

‘I didn’t know it was a seagull at the time – not until I heard it squawking after it had done it. Next thing I knew my head was bleeding. 

‘It wasn’t a big cut, but it was bleeding a lot with it being a head wound.’ 

Lesley had been near the home of lash technician Selina Ho when the attack happened. 

She tried to call Selina in order to avoid bleeding in her home before a bystander intervened and knocked on her door. 

Selina brought Lesley water, a chair, and some towels to mop up the blood, and the pair waited in the street for a moment before going to Dr. Gray’s Hospital in Elgin.

Lesley said: ‘We sat there until the bleeding stopped, and then Selina looked at it and said I’d better go to hospital to get it seen to, especially with it being a seagull. 

‘She drove us to the accident and emergency department, where they glued it together. 

‘It was quite a small cut, but with a head wound, they bleed a lot.’ 

Lesley did not need stitches but was left with a scar and a bald patch, which is now growing back.

She says the attack has left her uneasy around gulls – and she has begun to question why the species is protected. 

‘If I’m out, and I see seagulls or a chick around, I tend to start looking up in the air to make sure none are coming near me,’ Lesley said. 

‘I’m very wary around seagulls now. 

‘I’ve seen quite a few incidents where they’ve been eating sandwiches out of people’s hands on the high street, and my husband says they always go for the dog at the top of the street. 

‘I do wonder why they’re a protected species – they’re not nice to look at, and all you can hear at three or four o’clock in the morning is them squawking. 

‘People call them flying rats – so why are they protected?’ 

Gulls that swoop on people or pets are usually trying to protect chicks that have fallen out of or left the nest, according to the RSPCA. 

Their nuisance behaviours, also including stealing food, ‘can be managed with a little care and understanding’ according to the charity.  

MORE: Fish thieving gull swooping on seaside chippy ‘kicked to death’ by angry customer

MORE: Twitch streamer has her sandwich stolen in savage seagull attack

MORE: Angry ‘dive-bombing’ seagull is ‘terrorising’ children, dogs and runners